Growing up in the late ’90s and early ’00s meant being exposed to some of the greatest examples of bad metal. Like, genuinely really bad metal. Some of it was great though, of course. Everyone loved it at the time too, or so one would think, given the absurd amount…

I love that I’ve written so much about avant-garde music lately that I don’t have to once again start with an intro about how weird of a genre it is. The Lychgate review I recently wrote is a pretty good summary of how I feel about the moniker. Actually, referring to that review is a statement about avant-garde in and of itself since there’s little in common between that album and the band we have in mind today, Ghostbound. The first has more black metal on it and a lot more abrasiveness, whereas Ghostbound’s All is Phantom draws more on the epic nature of progressive rock and the dramatic thrill of bands like Marillion. But it also layers those ideas on top of frequent blast beats, prominent strings, thick guitars and much more that comes from metal and its approach to the avant-garde. In short, it’s a wild ride of an album which leaves us beggared for an exact definition.

If you’ve been around these parts since the early days, you’re sure to recognize the name Tre Watson. Proprietor of his own solo project to being the driving force of deathcore act Carthage, Tre was never content with just sitting still. Early TW material was in keeping with the then-burgeoning…

This week we bring you “the content”s in our regular fashion. Shocking. We talk about Apple Music surpassing Spotify in the US, Dol Ammad’s new album, new Aborted, new Soulfly, new Black Fast, and a few other random topics. Then we spend some time discussing the notion of newer things in music being better due to being able to build up on older works, and a lot of alternative explanations, implications, and counterarguments to this idea. Then, cool people time with The First Purge, Ryan Brown’s Curse Words, Ant-Man & The Wasp, and more. Enjoy!